Go!!

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations!

Jesus is pretty clear in this gospel….there is not a lot of wiggle room...he orders his followers to GO OUT and share the good news with the world.

Thanks to the Spirit they received at Pentecost, they have the courage to do so.

 What does this mean for us in May 2021?

 I’m pretty sure none of us likes the idea of picturing ourselves as a street corner preacher in NYC ranting about “Jesus is coming, get ready!!” Type of thing…

 You’ve heard it said I’m sure many times, the best way to preach is by our actions, not by our words.

 We’ve reminded ourselves often, especially here at St Francis specifically, about the real way the Mass ends on Sunday: Go in peace, to love and serve the Lord...Go OUT!!

We’re not supposed to stay here in church all week, we’re supposed to live our faith, in our particular circumstances, we’re supposed to LIVE JESUS, on 96th St and beyond, by our example…

 What does that really look like in concrete terms:

 For the last year we’ve participated in Black Lives Matters protests in memory of George Floyd...faith in action looks like that!

 It looks like reusable straws that help protect our environment…

 It looks (and maybe smells…)like… composting….helping out in a community garden...

 It looks like moving over in your seat on Sunday to make room for someone else who’s just coming back to church again after a year of watching Mass at home, on line…or giving up your seat on the bus…

 It looks like a gentle conversation or a cup of coffee with someone who needs a break from caring for a loved one at home

 It can look like one friend listening to another when she’s just found out she’s lost her job...again…

 It surely means being involved and informed about elections and representation in community issues, even on “off year elections”...are you planning on voting on June 22? If not, why not?

What does it mean for YOU to LIVE your faith out loud? To LIVE JESUS in your part of the world?

Yes, living out our faith is hard, especially in a multi cultural environment-when everyone around us has the right and responsibility to live out their faith in their own particular way…

 A particular concern for us Catholics can sometimes be...do we know enough about OUR faith to be able to feel confident in a conversation with those of other faiths…? How many times with friends and family, do we feel like we are ill equipped to speak about what we believe, what Catholics do and why we do it? 

 If we feel like this...if we wish we knew more about the gift of our Catholic faith...what are we doing to better ‘equip ourselves’ for those conversations? When was the last time you read an article or attended a pop up theology gathering, or viewed one of the many many excellent videos on our media page? 

 So, I guess this gospel for Trinity Sunday lays down a challenge for us: if we are to Go out and share our faith with others...we need to know our faith better ourselves. We are so lucky that St Francis, our faith home, provides us with so many ways and opportunities to understand better what our Catholic faith is about and the many ways we can live and witness Jesus each day. With St Francis de Sales, Patron of journalists, as our patron and namesake, we continue to take advantage of each and every method of social media available to us, to learn more about and share our faith with one another and the world around us.

Today I invite you to take a look at something we’ve put up on our social media: an article on FB, a video on our website, challenge yourself to learn a little bit more today about what your faith means to you. Think about how you want to live your faith more authentically and...GO OUT and do it!